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Wednesday, July 15 2015

One of the species rarely found in my area is the variegated kukri snake, Oligodon taeniolatus. A non-venomous snake also called Russell’s kukri snake.

I have mentioned in one of my previous posts these snakes are named as kukri snakes because of their fangs, which looks similar to a Nepali weapon called a kukri.

In India you can find 15 species of kukri snakes and I would definitely say that this is one of the largest families of snakes in India. Kukri snakes are also found in many other countries including China, Japan, Thailand and Malaysia.

The variegated kukri snake is small in size with a maximum length of 59 centimeters and has slender body with short tail. These snakes are found near human settlements and prefer living on ground. They feed on geckos and even eggs of other animals. This little fellow is oviparous by nature and lays 7-9 eggs around April.

It has been 5 years since I became interested in herpetology, but I never got a chance to rescue a variegated kukri snake. Luckily I have seen this snake a couple of times, thanks to the snake rescuers who showed me this beautiful slithering creature.